Drought in California and the State of my nursery.

January 2014 was spectacularly warm and sunny. But it's an official Drought and that has taken some of the pleasure of working in perfect 70 degree weather. The soil is not heavy or mucky from winter rain. I just read that parts of England had record high rainfall for January. Whereas we had a record low rainfall. January normally our wettest month was bone dry. I think England got all our water. I hear these tweets from England suggesting lots of mud and water. We're at the complete opposite end of dread here. Some rural communities in California have less than 100 days supply of water.



Sedum 'Angelina', Euphorbia characias wulfenii, Centaurea gymnocarpa 'Velvet Centaurea'



Today I worked on my new plant rack with cold frame closures and automatic vent. Eventually a heating pad with thermostat control will extend my seed sowing season to 12/365. Most of the winter tasks are complete in the beds. One last trim of the Ficus pumila and the Grewia occidentalis and my garden is ready for 2014. That said, most of my residential gardens have significant winter tasks pending.















Trachycarpus princeps



Our purple plum, Prunus cerasifera, is in full spring blossom. No threat of storm to destroy this display.